Better Call Saul - Season 3 (AMC) (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

Mike got paid in Grand Slams.

We totally need a .GIF of Mike with the power-tool and Chuck noping out of there.

 

[joshEH]

 

[joshEH]

You sure you don't want to add tax, Chuck?

 

[joshEH]

SHE'S GOING TO WIPE THE TAPE WITH A MAGNET-CAR

 

[joshEH]

That was seriously A+ TV. Just really, really great. Next week's episode is gonna be soooooo tense.

Betting right now that Kim totally recorded that final conversation. New Mexico a one-party consent state. A lot of states have a "one-party consent" rule, so as long as one person knows a convo is being recorded, then it's legal. Meaning you can record people without telling them in NM, just like Chuck did to Jimmy. Now the shoe's totally on the other foot.

And that opening-pool shot instantly triggered my Breaking Bad Season 4 PTSD. So Don Eladio took a liking to Gus as a business partner, after he had Max Arciniega shot?

Some other immediate thoughts on the episode:

- That was the fire station where Walt dropped off Holly in "Ozymandias."

- Turns out Lyle is the biggest badass of the entire BrBa universe.

- You know, even as a criminal mastermind, I appreciate Gus Fring's sheer professionalism. (Unlike "Rubber-Band Bills Hector.")

- Mike mentally-torturing Chuck with power tools was absolutely amazing. Jimmy should just hire Mike to follow him around with the drill and use it whenever Chuck talks.

- "Good thing I charged my battery, or I'd be going at it like Fred Flintstone."

- Chuck going for the $1-2 more shows what a prick he is...over a fucking cassette tape. Jimmy definitely came off as being more compassionate and genuine in that scene.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I'm just surprised Ximinez survived the opening scene.

 

[TravisR]

I'm just surprised Ximinez survived the opening scene.

He's safe until the cousins kill him in the S2 finale when Mike was trying to snipe Hector.

 

[WillG]

Betting right now that Kim totally recorded that final conversation. New Mexico a one-party consent state. A lot of states have a "one-party consent" rule, so as long as one person knows a convo is being recorded, then it's legal. Meaning you can record people without telling them in NM, just like Chuck did to Jimmy. Now the shoe's totally on the other foot.

Assuming this is the case, where does that get them, I wonder? Nothing illegal about having a duplicate tape. And even if he did admit that he was baiting Jimmy (and if I remember correctly, Kim said that but Chuck never verbally confirmed that), Jimmy still broke in and "damaged" the tape.

 

[TravisR]

I think they want the tape of Jimmy's confession to be brought into evidence so they can say that Jimmy made it all up in order to placate his mentally ill brother. The scientifically unproven or unknown disease that Chuck claims to be suffering from, the pictures that show how dangerously he lives and the witnesses (Jimmy, Kim, Ernesto and even Hamlin) that could testify to his odd or mentally ill behavior would really bolster the idea that Jimmy was just telling Chuck what he wanted to hear out of fear for his safety. Even if everyone was still suspicious of Jimmy, it will muddy the waters enough that they couldn't disbar him.

 

[WillG]

I think they want the tape of Jimmy's confession to be brought into evidence so they can say that Jimmy made it all up in order to placate his mentally ill brother. The scientifically unproven or unknown disease that Chuck claims to be suffering from, the pictures that show how dangerously he lives and the witnesses (Jimmy, Kim, Ernesto and even Hamlin) that could testify to his odd or mentally ill behavior would really bolster the idea that Jimmy was just telling Chuck what he wanted to hear out of fear for his safety. Even if everyone was still suspicious of Jimmy, it will muddy the waters enough that they couldn't disbar him.

That seems to make sense. The picture that Jimmy had Mike take would bear that out. Only piece that doesn't quite fit for me is that Jimmy isn't on "trial" for confessing to Chuck about the Mesa Verde paperwork. But I suppose that Jimmy could use Chuck's "Illness" to discredit him and maybe the NM BAR association lets Jimmy off with just a suspension.

 

[Paul D G]

I'm trying to figure out Jimmy and Kim's plan too. What we know:

- Mike took pictures of Chuck's home, presumably to show how mentally unfit he is.
- Jimmy and Kim worked pretty hard at making sure the testimony read 'property' and not more specifically 'tape'.
- Kim got Chuck to admit the original tape wasn't destroyed, only a copy.

I'm probably wrong but if they're going after Jimmy for destroying the tape (ie: evidence) it can be argued the tape was never actually destroyed (because it's going to be played in court), and all Jimmy did, they'd argue, was break down the door, etc. The flaw in my logic is there is a witness to Jimmy going after the tape in the desk (the PI). That they made a copy of the tape could fall into the idea of baiting him.

 

[TravisR]

I've had the Breaking Bad Blu-ray box set forever and I just started watching it recently. What's amazing is how much more rich Better Call Saul makes the supporting characters of BB. Obviously, Saul and Mike but seeing Tuco, Hector, the cousins and even Krazy 8 or Francesca in BB now, they all have more history and all seem more real.

I'm now into Breaking Bad episodes that feature Saul Goodman and with having seen Better Call Saul, I find the character to have changed from being the comedic relief in BB to just being very sad. Saul was always the funny sleazy lawyer prior to BCS but now, I see how badly Jimmy messed up his life and became a piece of crap. It's amazing how good both shows are to make you see completely different sides of the same character(s).

 

[SamT]

How it makes sense that a low level criminal, Hector, dares to go to a higher level criminal, Gus' place and threatens him?

Gus clearly made a lot more money than Hector. Making that much money clearly means he should be in a higher level of protection and already should have muscle men and assassins. Makes no sense for him to go to hire Mike, some guy who nobody knows.

 

[SamT]

I'm now into Breaking Bad episodes

Is it the first time you are watching Breaking Bad?

 

[TravisR]

Is it the first time you are watching Breaking Bad?

No, I'm just rewatching Breaking Bad for the first time since it ended and the first time since Better Call Saul started. I saw the BB episodes when they first aired, I'd periodically rewatch the episodes during the off seasons and I'd always rewatch all the episodes before a new season began so I imagine I've seen the earliest seasons probably almost 10 times now.

How it makes sense that a low level criminal, Hector, dares to go to a higher level criminal, Gus' place and threatens him?

Gus clearly made a lot more money than Hector. Making that much money clearly means he should be in a higher level of protection and already should have muscle men and assassins. Makes no sense for him to go to hire Mike, some guy who nobody knows.

Gus is at least suspected of being gay and he's not Mexican (he's from Chile) so the cartel would probably not be that concerned that Hector is screwing with a guy who is an outsider on multiple levels even one who is financially successful as long as he isn't having a negative effect on the money going to the cartel.

 

[SamT]

Wow, all this is news to me. When was implied that he is gay?

 

[SamT]

What I don't like is that with this series, all mystery is gone. I imagined all the criminals from Breaking Bad to be professional bad people. Now in this series everyone seems to be reasonable and "nice". Even Mike I imagined him to be a ruthless killer in Breaking Bad, now he is a nice guy who seems to have turned into a life of crime accidentally at an advanced age.

 

[SamT]

I've seen the earliest seasons probably almost 10 times now.

Wow that's dedication. The only series that I have seen 10 times or more is Friends.

 

[TravisR]

Wow, all this is news to me. When was implied that he is gay?

In a flashback in episode 408- Hermanos, Hector kills Max (Gus' business partner/possible lover) and then Gus spent 20 years plotting revenge against Hector and Dons Eladio & Bolsa for their involvement in Max's death so it would seem like it was a much deeper wound than if they had just killed a close friend. If you watch the scene, it's easy to read Giancarlo Esposito's performance as that he's seeing someone he loves die. In the season 5 premiere, you see a picture of Gus and Max together on Gus' desk at Pollos which. after 2 decades, seems odd to have if he was just a friend. All that being said, it is open to interpretation.

Wow that's dedication. The only series that I have seen 10 times or more is Friends.

It's also why I needed a break of a few years after so seeing them so many times. And I shudder to think how many times I've seen Seinfeld, Twin Peaks or the first ten years of The Simpsons.

 

[joshEH]

Assuming this is the case, where does that get them, I wonder? Nothing illegal about having a duplicate tape. And even if he did admit that he was baiting Jimmy (and if I remember correctly, Kim said that but Chuck never verbally confirmed that), Jimmy still broke in and "damaged" the tape.

In the episode, Chuck and Howard claimed that the destroyed tape was "irreplaceable." If the tape destroyed was a copy of the original, as they told Kim, then their claim of the tape's irreplaceability is patently false, and Chuck would have just perjured himself.

My instinct here is that while that would certainly be an arrow I wouldn't hesitate to fire if I were in Kim's shoes, I wouldn't necessarily count on it as some sort of magic bullet that would change everything. I could easily see a regular judge shrugging it off as insignificant, though maybe not a panel presiding specifically over an ethics-hearing.